Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare

Today is both William Shakespeare's 449th birthday, and it is National Talk Like Shakespeare Day here in America. Apparently, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel formally recognized the occasion at city hall today.

There are plenty of Shakespeare productions going on domestically (and, assuredly in England and other parts of the world as well).

The American Shakespeare Center (we still like to call them Shenandoah Shakespeare, their old name) in Staunton, Va.,  is performing both "Twelfth Night" and "Love's Labour Lost," right now.

Just down the road in High Point, NC, the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival is holding auditions for "MacBeth" or the Scottish Play from April 29-30th.

And, the Reduced Shakespeare Company will be performing throughout the United Kingdom as well as well as performances in Urbana, Ill., on April 27th and in Columbia, Md., on June 22nd.

We are told that they can do "Romeo and Juliet" in 14 and a half minutes!

http://www.talklikeshakespeare.org

http://www.amerianshakesperacecenter.com

http://www.ncshakes.org

http://www.reducedshakespeare.com

Top 10 Shakespeare Plays

We beg to differ, but listserve.com thinks "Hamlet" is William Shakespeare's best play (it would number 3 behind "Othello" and "Macbeth" on my list). For those who adore "Merchant of Venice," we should warn you in advance that it has been snubbed!

While researching this post, we came across a nifty blog called blogshakespearegeek.com which makes me wonder how people can focus on just one thing!

For those who reside in Virginia, The American Shakespeare Center in the Shenandoah Valley town of Staunton, Va., is currently performing "Henry V, Part 2," "Othello" and "Taming of the Shrew."

Cast members include James Keegan, Sarah Fallons and the adorable Ginna Hoben, who was great in "Othello" (I saw it when it first opened).

Here is the list, which all of you should memorize for your English quiz on Monday:

1) Hamlet (pictured above-Laurence Olivier)
2) Romeo and Juliet (is this the one with the unhappy ending?)
3) Henry V
4) Midsummer Night's Dream (we prefer the Woody Allen movie)
5) Macbeth (aka The Scotish Play)
6) Richard III
7) Julius Caesar (the man behind the salad)
8) 12th Night
9) Taming of the Shrew
10) Othello
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